Improvement in tooth-pick cases or holders



H. B. STEPH-E'NSONS wan. BENNETT.

TOOTH-PICK CASE on HOLDER.

Patented Feb. 8, 11876 F'IC.5.

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mvzu-roas" WITNESSES N. PETERS, PNOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. Dv 0-- UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

HOWARD B. STEPHENSON, OF TROY, AND WILLIAM H. BENNETT, OF'NEW roam-av.

IMPROVEMENT lN TOOTH-PICK CASES OR HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,364, dated February 8, 1876; application filed January 19, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HOWARD B. STE- PHENSON, of Troy, New York, and WILLIAM H. BENNETT, of New York city, have invented an Improvement in Tooth-Pick Cases or Holders, of which the following is a specification:

The said improvement is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section; Fig. 2, a front-end view; Fig. 3, a transverse section; Fig. 4, a plan view of a blank, and Fig. 5 a general plan of the device.

Mechanical tooth picks heretofore made have been of expensive construction, owing to the fact that non-corrosive metals, such as gold, were required in their structure.

The object of our invention is the production of a pocket tooth-pick which shall be comparatively inexpensive, and yet have all of the advantages of cleanliness, convenience of carriage, and facility of manipulation pos-. sessed by the costly article made of precious metal.

To that end we make use of the ordinary quill tooth-pick of commerce, which, from its qualities of elasticity and pliability, as well as its capacity to be readily pointed, has long been used, to the exclusion of picks made from bone, wood, or other material; and in order that it may be conveniently carried in the pocket, as well as kept clean, we provide for it a case, or holder so constructed that the quill may be projected therefrom for use or covered thereby for protection.

adjusted so as to be capable of sliding longitudinally therein. This carrier 0 is made up of a short tube, 3, closed at its rear end, in-

side of which is contained a split tube, 5. The

split tube 5 and tube 3 are held together and are joined to a slide, 1, fitted on the exterior surface of the case A by a rivet, 'i, which projects through a slot, 6, in the case A. The carrier 0 is actuated by the slide 1, and its limit of movement in either direction is determined by the slot e, in which the rivet '5 travels. The split tube 5 is formed from a fiat plate having one end slit many times, so as to form fingers o, and the ends of the fingers are pointed, as at n, so that when they are bent inwardly, after the blank 5 has been curved into circular form, their adjacent edges may 1 lie nearly -parallel to each other. When this split tube is fastened in position in the tube 4 it forms a cylindrical spring, and constitutes the means for holding the quill or other toothpick firmly in the carrier .G.

A tooth-pick formed by splitting and sharpening a quill, or one made in a like curved form from wood, rubber, tortoise-shell, bone, or other material flexible and strong enough for the purpose, is inserted in the holderO by forcing its unpointed end between the walls of the tubes 4 and 5, the former of which, by its elasticity, will yield to permit the entrance of the pick, and, by its spring-pressure, will retain the said pick in place. The flexible fingers 0 will accommodate an irregularity of the thickness of the body of the pick, and their inwardly-curved ends a will facilitate its ready entrance between the tubes. Thus fastened in the holder, the pick B may be drawn into the tube for protection, or be projected beyond its end for use, as may be desired.

What, therefore, is claimed is 1. As a new article of manufacture, a toothpick formed by the combination of a protecting tubular case, a sliding holder, a removable tooth-pick, and a propelling-slide, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a protecting-case, a In testimony whereof we have signed our sliding carrier, and a removable tooth-pick, names to this specification 1n the presence 0 substantially as described. two subscribing witnesses.

3. In combination with the tube 3, I claim H. B. STEPHENSON. the split tube 5, the two united together and W. H. BENNETT. constituting a carrier for holding a pick, B, Witnesses as to STEPHENSON: substantially as described. W. H. BENNETT,

4. The combination of the Split tube 5, hav- JAMES A. LEONARD. ing fingers o, with inwardly-bent ends n, and Witnesses as to BENNETT: tube 3, united together and constituting a H. T. MUNSON,

tooth-pick holder, substantially as described. JOHN G. FOSTER, Jr. 

